Improving Ecological Theory and Socio-economic Integration in Restoration

Ecological theory has helped to set a framework to recover degraded, damaged or destroyed ecosystems in restoration science. This is becoming increasingly sophisticated by engaging in major issues such as restoring ecological processes at the landscape scale. However, restoration is not a substitute for ceasing damage in the first place. Establishing the source of issues is essentially related to socio-economic activities. Ongoing pressures continue to modify and degrade natural systems to the point where restoration actions are not guaranteed to succeed, particularly, with the additional pressure of climate change.

All actions are best considered as experiments that improve knowledge of ecosystem dynamics. Restoration considerations should include measures that a broad range of stakeholders will resonate with (e.g. measures of the 'ecological health' of an icon place), so that restoration results provide a platform for further advocacy for socio-economic change. Engaging and informing the community is difficult, challenging, and often requires continued hard work but is necessary. The desired quality of an environment may change with time and the ‘acceptability’ of an improved area may be politically motivated and based on human beliefs, values and preferences. The challenge of successful restoration is in both parts natural and cultural, thus needing to go beyond the field of ecological theory to integrate those from social sciences, the humanities and local knowledge into a trans-disciplinary approach.

Restoration must broaden to account socio-economic issues to attract substantial and ongoing support of mainstream society. Inclusion of human factors reflect an increasing recognition that people are inextricably part of nature and thus their presence in nature should not be viewed as somehow compromising its inherent quality or value. Dealing with degrading pressures is part of the restoration challenge, but this cannot be addressed by restorationists alone. There is a need for considerably greater cross-disciplinary work to identify and implement solutions to what are fundamentally socio-economic causes of issues and other on-going damaging processes in ecosystems. Social science inclusion will ensure the political economy is committed to the goal of enhancing societies, and accordingly raise the ethos of future land-use.